


Playing on the Safe Side Never Got Me Anywhere

by LiveLaughLoveLarry



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M, The X Factor Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-07
Updated: 2014-09-07
Packaged: 2018-02-16 13:32:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2271627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiveLaughLoveLarry/pseuds/LiveLaughLoveLarry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry and Louis are idiots. Niall is the Captain. Niall gets tired of waiting for Harry and Louis to get their shit together and locks them in a room together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Playing on the Safe Side Never Got Me Anywhere

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first real attempt at writing fic, so please, let me know what you think! <3

"Hey Louis, can I talk to you for a minute?" Louis looked up from his mug of tea to see Niall hovering in the doorway. He blinked quickly.

"Uh, sure," he said, trying to act like he hadn't been stirring his tea for the past ten minutes. "What's up?"

"Privately," Niall said, giving him a meaningful look. Louis' stomach clenched, but he tried to play it off.

"With this many people in the house?" he joked. "Where do you think we're going to find any privacy?" Niall just looked at him. Louis sighed. "Do we have to do this now?" he asked.

"When would you rather do it?" Niall retorted. Louis didn't answer. He didn't have to. They both knew the answer was never.

"Follow me," Niall said, turning abruptly. "We're getting this over with once and for all." Louis frowned.

"Getting what over with?" he asked, but Niall was already out of sight. Louis grabbed his tea and hurried after him.

Niall led him down a hallway which, if Louis remembered correctly, held the rooms used by some of the production crew. Nothing worth filming was happening today, so most of them had the day off and had gone out. He had to give Niall credit - it would likely be almost completely deserted.

Niall walked down the hallway to the second last door on the right. He paused for a moment to let Louis catch up, then opened the door, motioning for Louis to enter first. Louis obeyed, rolling his eyes.

"I'm perfectly capable of holding doors open for myself you know," he said. "It's not like I-"

"Louis?"

Louis froze at the sound of his name. Well, it wasn't his name that made him freeze. It was the voice that said it. He turned to face the source, and his fears were confirmed.

The room looked almost identical to most of the others in the house, right down to the clothes strewn across every single surface, from the floors to the dressers to the two unmade beds that sat in opposite corners of the room. One of these beds was empty, but sitting on the rumpled sheets of the other was Harry, looking confused.

"What are you doing here?" Louis asked sharply. Harry frowned.

"I could ask you the same thing," he said. "Niall asked me to meet him here." They both looked towards the door, where Niall still stood. He gave them an apologetic look.

"Sorry about this," he said, "but it's for the best. You'll thank me later." And with no further explanation, he pulled the door closed. There was a loud click.

"What the fuck?" Louis exclaimed, crossing to the door and trying the knob. It rattled, but didn't move. "He locked us in here!"

"That's right." Niall's voice was a bit muffled through the door, but his words were clear enough. "And you're staying in there until you talk to each other." Louis stomach felt like ice as he processed the words. Did Niall want him to - no. No, he wouldn't. Louis glanced around the room, swearing under his breath. This room had one crucial difference from most of the others - no windows. Must be next to a shed, or the garage or something.

"Niall, I swear," he hissed. "If you don't let us out right now..."

"Neither of you are coming out until you've talked about what you told me." Niall's voice was firm, but Louis opened his mouth to argue anyways. He wouldn't do it. He couldn't. But before he could get a word out, Harry spoke.

"I told you that stuff in strictest confidence," he said, angrily getting to his feet. Louis frowned.

"Wait, you?" he said. "He was talking to me." Now Harry frowned.

"Why would he be talking to you?" Louis looked down, unable to meet Harry's eyes.

"I told him some things recently," he said evasively. "Personal stuff. Evidently it was a mistake." Harry was silent for a moment.

"What about me?" he asked suddenly. Louis head jerked up.

"What do you mean?"

"I just... I don't..." Harry shrugged. "Why didn't you talk to me?"

Louis laughed. It came out harsher than he'd intended.

"You're one to talk," he spat. "Seeing as you've been doing the same thing."

"But... that's different," Harry said. He sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

"How is it any different?" Louis asked. "You've been telling Niall stuff in 'strictest confidence,' and you haven't told me. How can you get mad at me for doing the same thing?"

"I'm not mad," Harry argued. "Just... I thought we were friends. Best friends. That's what you said, right?" Louis said nothing, just swallowed hard around the lump in his throat. It was true, he had said that. But that was before... things changed.

"I had reasons, okay?" Harry said after a moment.

"Well, maybe I had reasons too."

There was a long silence. Harry sat back down on the bed. Louis made his way to the second bed in the room, sitting down gingerly. He absentmindedly sipped his tea, grimacing. It was cold.

"What reasons?" Harry asked suddenly.

"What?"

"Well, you said maybe you had reasons too," Harry said, fiddling with the bedsheets. "And I was just wondering... what reasons?" Louis opened his mouth to say it was none of Harry's business, but he stopped. What could it hurt? He didn't have to say what, just... he did kind of owe the kid an explanation, even if he couldn't explain everything.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Harry said, and Louis realized he'd been silent for a long time.

"No, I don't... I didn't..." Louis shook his head. "I just... the thing I was talking about to Niall... I couldn't talk to you about it because... it was about you." He said the last bit all in a rush in spite of himself, regretting his decision instantly. He stared at the tea in his hands, swirling it slowly, trying not to blush. Or cry.

"Louis?"

Louis jumped, almost spilling his tea. Harry had moved from the bed across the room to stand right in front of him.

"Jesus!" he exclaimed, quickly setting the mug on the floor. "Don't startle me like that!"

"Sorry," Harry said quickly. "Just... the thing I was talking about to Niall was about you too."

Louis opened and closed his mouth silently.

"I... you..." he floundered, finally settling for, "What?" Harry sat on the bed next to him, and Louis swore he could feel the heat of his body just inches away. He could definitely feel the mattress giving under his weight as he shifted position.

"The thing I was talking about to Niall was about you," Harry repeated. His voice was level and calm, in direct contrast to Louis' breath, which was coming faster and faster. He forced himself to look at Harry, and the expression on Harry's face made his heart clench painfully. His eyes were big and soft, but there was a kind of determination behind them. He leaned towards Louis, their faces coming closer.

Louis shot to his feet, crossing the room to one of the dressers. He leaned heavily against it, his hands shaking.

"Louis?" Harry asked, hovering behind him. "Did I... was I wrong?" Louis said nothing, fighting to get himself under control. Damn Niall, damn him to hell. "I thought," Harry continued, his voice subdued. "I mean, it seemed like-"

"I can't," Louis cut him off. "I just... I can't."

"Why not?" Harry asked, confused now.

"It's wrong," Louis said. "I'm not... we're not supposed to..."

"Louis," Harry said, and his voice somehow managed to sound both hard and gentle at the same time. "Look at me." Louis shook his head. "Look at me," Harry insisted, touching his shoulder, and Louis obeyed because how could he not obey, how could he not look at Harry? "Do you have feelings for me?" Harry asked. The question was bluntly stated, but his voice was soft, gentle, hopeful.

"The last of the great romantics you are not," Louis tried to joke, but his throat was tight and neither of them laughed.

"Answer the question," Harry said.

Louis looked at the floor, biting his lip until he tasted blood. "I can't," he whispered. "It's wrong, I'm not-"

"That's not what I asked," Harry said gently. "Do you or do you not have feelings for me?" A hand touched Louis's cheek, tilting his face upwards to look Harry in the eye. "If you don't, I'll accept that," Harry continued. "I'll never try anything again, never even mention it. Is that what you want?" Louis opened and closed his mouth, swallowing air as he tried to form words.

"No," Louis breathed at last. "God, no, but Harry, we can't-"

"We _can_ ," Harry whispered, taking a step closer so their chests were almost touching, and no, this was wrong, he wasn't supposed to feel like this, to want this, he wasn't supposed to -

And then Harry's lips touched his and Louis stopped caring about anything else.

The kiss was unlike anything Louis had ever felt before. It was like fireworks and lightning, the taste of music and the smell of sunlight, everything all at once all rolled into one. It felt right, so right, in a way nothing had ever felt before, and nothing that felt this right could possibly be wrong. Louis' hands were tangled in Harry's hair now, and he couldn't remember how they got there but he didn't care, none of it mattered when Harry's hands were tracing fire along his skin and his lips - oh God, his lips.

They were stumbling towards the bed now, Louis pushing Harry and Harry blindly obeying, their lips never breaking contact, and Louis wasn't sure what was going to happen when they got there but he didn't care, didn't care about anything except-

There was a dull thunk as Louis' foot hit something, and they both jumped. His tea.

"Shit," Louis muttered, glancing down at it, then back up at Harry. And then they were both laughing, laughing at the ridiculousness of everything. Louis ran for tissues while Harry tried to keep the clothes on the floor away from the rapidly spreading puddle of tea. They mopped up the cold tea together, both smiling every time their hands brushed against each other, which was a lot.

When the floor was clean - or at least, when the tea was cleaned up - they lay on the bed together, not saying anything, just holding each other.

"I'm sorry" Louis said after a few minutes. "I was just so scared and ashamed, but then-"

"It's okay," Harry said softly. "I get it. I've been there, and I know it's crazy. You don't have to explain yourself."

"But I want to," Louis said. "Just... let me do this." Harry nodded, making a zipping motion across his lips. Louis couldn't help laughing. It was just so... Harry.

"Um," he said. "So. I'd never had anything like this happen to me before. I'd dated girls, I thought I was straight. And then... you." He shook his head. "I freaked. I just... it was so much more than I'd ever felt with anyone. And so fast. And add to that the fact that so many people are so against it... well. It was a lot to take in." Harry was looking nervous now, and Louis hastened to reassure him.

"Things are clearer now," he said. "That kiss... it was..." He trailed off, not sure how to describe it.

"Yeah," Harry agreed, and Louis smiled. Of course Harry knew what he meant before he even said it. Their lips met again, gently, slowly, tongues learning the contours of each others' mouths.

"I guess we should tell Niall we've talked," Harry said when they finally pulled apart. Louis laughed.

"We could do that," he agreed. "Or we could leave him out there for a while longer, make him wait like he did us. And after all, we have this room all to ourselves... it would be a shame to waste it." Harry's eyes brightened for a moment, but then he made a face.

"No supplies," he said. "Unless you think these guys have some..." Louis shuddered. That was _not_ an image he wanted.

"No, that's okay," he said quickly. "Save it for later."

"It might be quite a bit later," Harry warned, getting to his feet. "It's not like we have our own room, and this place is pretty crowded." Louis stood, taking Harry's hand and lacing their fingers.

"I'll manage somehow," he said, grinning devilishly. "I'm very creative, you know." Harry looked like a startled goldfish at that, and Louis laughed, pulling him to the door.

"Niall?" he called. "We're ready to come out now."

The door opened a crack. "Prove it." Harry frowned.

"What?"

"Prove it."

Louis groaned. "Is this what you're looking for, you perv?" he asked, leaning over and kissing Harry hard on the mouth. Harry stiffened for a moment, then relaxed under Louis' lips, sliding a hand up behind his neck to pull him closer. When they broke apart and looked back at Niall his face held an expression that was a mixture of shock and joy.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting to watch that," he said, opening the door all the way and clapping both of them on the back.

"You're creepy," Louis complained, and Niall laughed.

"It worked didn't it? I told you you'd thank me." Louis had to concede the point.

"He's going to be insufferable about this," Louis whispered to Harry as they headed up to their room. Harry smiled up at him.

"And we'll be insufferable right back," he replied. "So sweet they'll all get cavities."

"Only you would say that," Louis said, smiling and shaking his head. Harry frowned, so Louis added, "and I love it."


End file.
